The Ohio Bee Survey is a new OSU project that aims to inventory the richness of Ohio’s wild bee species over two years. The project is recruiting volunteer bee collectors who will set out and collect small bee bowls once a week for 21 weeks from May through October. The weekly catch will be frozen, then delivered or mailed to a central location for pinning and identification later in the year.

The goal is to have at least one bee collector in each county. The project began recruiting bee collectors in the last two weeks, and now have good coverage in many areas across the state. However, there are still about 30 counties without a collector, including Fayette County.

Supplies and training materials are all provided by U.S. mail to collectors. Bee collectors can be Master Gardeners, OCVN volunteer naturalists, OSU employees or others not affiliated with OSU. Collection areas can be in home landscapes, farms or gardens, so travel is not required. (Specific locations such as parks may have permitting requirements, but there are not overall permitting requirements to participate).

Small painted bowls are filled with soapy water, left in the landscape for 24 hours, then collected, strained and the contents frozen. Collection happens alone, so collectors can easily comply with social distancing requirements.

If you or someone you know in a county below would like to participate in the survey, please visit this website:

http://go.osu.edu/beesignup

For more information about the survey, visit:

http://go.osu.edu/beesurvey

For questions, please contact Denise at [email protected] or survey coordinator MaLisa Spring at [email protected]